Nottm Forest 2-1 Aston Villa (December 14, 2024) Match analysis

Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga scored late goals to give their side a dramatic 2-1 win over Aston Villa, lifting them to fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday.

Milenkovic scored for the second consecutive game when he saved Jhon Durán’s header for Villa in the 87th minute.

Buoyed on by the crowd at the City Ground, Forest claimed all three points in the third minute of stoppage time when substitute Elanga fired a shot past goalkeeper Emi Martínez.

Forest moved into fourth place with 28 points from 16 games, one point ahead of champions Manchester City, who host Manchester United on Sunday, while Villa, themselves on their way to fourth, remain in sixth with 25.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

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After an unforgettable first half, the second half picked up momentum after a remarkable save from Martinez.

Forest’s Nicolás Domínguez could hardly believe his eyes when the Argentine World Cup winner showed amazing reflexes and somehow deflected his close-range header off the line.

A minute later, Villa’s first attempt on goal gave them the lead when Duran met John McGinn’s cross with an instinctive header that flew past goalkeeper Matz Sels.

When Chris Wood thought he had equalized, Forest appeared to be out of luck, but his attempt was ruled the most serious offside decision after a lengthy VAR review.

However, Forest were unstoppable and Milenkovic scored from Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross and this time Martinez failed to keep the ball out of the net.

Elanga looked razor-sharp after coming on and won for Forest when he met a cut-back from Elliot Anderson.